The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-12-19
THE NEW RIVER FLEET.
THE AUGUSTA STEA MER ADVANCE
ON HER TRIAL TRIP.

ON HER
The Fastest and Lightest Boat on the
River-Her First Trip Down-The
Second Boat of the Line to be Put On
Next Month-Early Steam boating on
the Savannah.
The new Augusta steamer, the Ad-
vance, arrived here yesterday on her trial
trip. The steamer was built by the
Augusta Steamboat Company, and is the
lightest draft boat ever ON the Savannah.
She left Augusta at z o'clock Saturday
morning with 500 bales of cotton and a
general cargo. She reached Cohens Bluff
before dark and tied up there for the night
and arrived here at 4:30 o'clock yesterday
afternoon.
Several hundred people were on the
wharves and cheered the vessel as she pass
ed by. Capt. Henry W. Fleetwood is her
master, and he is very proud of his boat.
She is 100 feet long, and is the larg-
est and fastest boat on the riv-
err Her capacity is 1000 bales OF
cotton. She draws twenty inches at the
bow, and when loaded with 500 bales of cot
ton she draws thirty-two inches. With
1000 bales of cottyn she will draw exactly
three feet fore and aft. Her engines are
compound high pressure engines and her
furnaces burn coal. Her officers are
Capt. Henry w. Fleetwood, and Thomas
NJ. Daniels mate Her crew will consist of
ten men. Capt. w. F. Gibson is her agent,
and Mr.. John +. Robertson is manager or
the new company here.
The new line will not compete with the
other boats for local business, but will be
run in the interest of Augusta merchants.
The Progress" the second boat of the line,
will be finished in a short time and will be
run with the advance"
Capt. David A. Philpot, of Augusta, is
the designer of the boat, and he is now
| experimenting the construction of the
| Progress, which will be put on the line in a
few weeks. Capt. Philpot is a veteran river
man. Talking to an Augusta Chronicle re-
| porter day or two ago he related some in
| teresting history of early navigation
ON the Savannah. He remembered
when Gen. Lafayette visited Augusta in
1884. 81 was little slip of a boy them" he
said, "but remember it as well as if it were
yesterday; the pageant coming down the
gang plank, the speech making, and the
parade that marched off from the river side
to Broad. The Washington was about the
| first packet boat that came to Augusta. She
piled between here and Savannah up to
1854. when the railroads began to take away
the business of the several Furnishing lines
we had then. There were about half a
dozen regular lines OF steamers then with
| two or three boats each, running
regularly here | have seen as much as 5000
bales of cotton on the bank at one time, and
ten or fifteen barges being loaded and I'M
| loaded. Our steamers then were low pres
sure tow boats, run by steam, and used for
towing these barges that carried the freight.
| Augustus wholesale trade extended up into
| North Carolina, and the goods were almost
entirely brought here by the river, and the
produce of the surrounding country was
| taken to the coast the same way.
1.-THE oldest steamboat line we had was the
Georgia Steamboat Company. w. Il. Stark
was President of the company, which was
organized in 1923, and was composed of Au-
| gusta and Savannah merchants. They had
three boats, and Mr.. Josiah Sibley, then a
heavy cotton shipper, sent all his cotton by
this line Let's see, they had the Chatham,
commanded by Capt. Powell, the Cherokes,
Capt. Hubbard, and the Augusta Capt.
Frazier The coming on of the war broke
up the line, and the Chatham was lost
in running the blockade. Next comes
the Iron Steamboat Company, which was
organized about 1884, and continued in OPP
Grafton up to the breaking out of the war.
| They also had three boats: The Randolph,
| a tgim boat commanded first by Capt. Ben
Lyons and then by myself. She was sold
to the Confederate government, and was
| sunk ut the bombardnent of Fort Sumter
| by shells from the Yankee feet The Lamar
commanded by Capt Treswell another
boat of the Iron company, was lost in run
ming the blockade. The Hamburg, the third
boat of this line, Capt. Gould, was lost
| through the carelessneSs of the incompetent
men who knew nothing of navigation
placed in command of the boats, while the
old masters who knew the waters thor
oughly were sent to the front with cavalry
artillery or infantry | had been ordered
along with the rest to field that was new
to me, when Gov. Brown, who heard of it.
ordered me to await instructions. Emory
Sibley was President of the Iron Steamboat
Company, and W. H. Stark was Director.
The company broke up in 80"
"All broke up about the same time, il
seemsW
Eyes, the war broke up the river naviga
ton as far as the regular runs were con
cerned, as the boats were wanted by the
government. Our line-the Fashion line,
which was organized by Moore and Pbilpot
in 1858, was broken up in that year also.
We had three boats also. The Fashion com
manded by myself, and the Talomicco, com
manded by Capt. I. NJ. Philpot, my brother
which was named by Gov. Hammond, OF
Beech Island, after an Indian mound
on the river near Silver Bluff. Several OF
these mounds have washed into the stream
at Mason's landing. | recollect we had to
send down to the Governors to learn how
to spell the name. Our third boat was the
Columbia, Capt. Daniels, who is now a mate
on the new steamboat, the Advance. The
Tolonicco and the Columbia were sold to
the Confederate government and lost after
wards while poking around in the inlets
under unskilled commanders
''Well does that close the listr'
"Oh, no; there was the w. H. Stark, g
new enterpr SO owned by the Iron Steam
boat Company, which was lost i'll the ser
vice of the Confederate government at Sill
yer Bluff, where she sank in Is feet OF
water, and now lies There was the Au
gusta and Hamburg Company, organic in
1S4S, and running the Oregon and the Cook
The Oregon was wrecked in the storm Of
1854 while at her dock in Savan
nah, and the Cook was lost or
the Al aInaha river. Shaw was Cap
tain of the Oregon and Frazier of the
Cook The Ivanhoe, one of the first boats
to make any extensive arrangements for
passengers, owned by NJ A. Cohen of Sa-
vannah, and commanded by Capt. German
ran from about 1910 to 1854. Then from
about 1884, the John David Mungn used TO
make trips under Capt. Greene from
Charleston to Augusta. Let's see; the
other two boats that ran to Charleston
were the Seabrook, Capt. Currey
and the Stoney, Capt. Forester.
| told Won about tho pxQt w n from